Futurama's+Integalactic+Bowling

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=Bowl-A-Rama=
 * =Intergalactic=

Heidi Beezley
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Table of Contents
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 * >> Overview ||  || >> Scope ||   || >> Motivation ||
 * >> Instructional Objective ||  || >> Object of the Game ||   || >> Character Licensing ||
 * >> Learners ||  || >> Competing Products ||   || >> Design Process ||
 * >> Context of Use ||  || >> Design Detail ||   || >> References ||



Overview
In Futurama’s Intergalactic Bowl-A-Rama (FIB-A-R), you will become the evil and/or slimy alien you always dreamed you could be (or choose to be a boring Earthling like Philip K. Fry) and learn about the effect of forces on the motion of a bowling ball at the same time.

As players step up to their lane, a ball will be ejected from the ball return. The ball may be a traditional Earth bowling ball, a frictionless alien bowling ball from Omicron Persei 8, a Near Death Star bowling ball with an evil thruster included, or something else entirely. Since each ball will already have a set of forces associated with it, the player will then be able to choose an alien or earthly surface for the bowling lane that they think will compliment the bowling ball's forces the best. Each lane will have varying amounts of friction - in fact if you choose the poppler lane, your ball may get pushed along the lane in the direction of motion, though a few popplers may be injured or killed which will make Lrrr very angry. Once the player has determined the surface, they will determine the amount of force to apply and let it rip.

Because the direction the ball travels and the speed with which it travels are determined by the forces acting on it, a player will have to flip through the various lane options until they find the appropriate match for their ball. For example, when playing at level one, if a player is given a ball with a thruster with a backward force acting on it, they will need to not only throw the ball as hard as they can so that it has a large initial force, but they will also need to choose a lane (like the poppler lane) where the lane itself applies a forward force to the ball. This level will be fairly easy for most players especially since any balls with friction only or a forward force, will work well on any lane except for one with extremely high friction. However, in levels 2 and 3, the players will have speed requirements. The ball must travel fast enough not to be blown to bits by Zapp Brannigan but travel slow enough not to break the heads in a jar. At these levels, every ball will be a challenge. For example, if a ball with a forward force appears, it will speed up continuously on either a frictionless or low-friction lane. Therefore, the player will need to choose a lane with a frictional force equal to the forward force in order to maintain a constant speed that is not too fast or too slow.

In addition to bowling, players will occasionally be interrupted (approximately every three frames) by Al Gore's Head. Al Gore's Head will provide his sage advice or ask annoying questions about forces - especially as they relate to intergalactic bowling. Answering correctly will add to your bowling score or allow you to win cool prizes like Slurm t-shirts for your bowling avatar.

This game could be played as a single player game where you are going for a personal best score or multi-player where you compete against other aliens.



Instructional Objective
The goal of the game is for students to begin to understand how forces interact and the effect that forces have on the motion of an object.

Standards Addressed:
Standard 8.2** - Unbalanced forces cause changes in velocity. As a basis for understanding this concept, students know:
 * 8th Grade Science
 * **a** - a force has both direction and magnitude.
 * **b** - when an object is subject to two or more forces at once, the effect is the cumulative effect of all the forces.
 * **c** - when the forces on an object are balanced, the motion of the object does not change.
 * **d** - how to identify separately two or more forces acting on a single static object, including gravity, elastic forces due to tension or compression in matter, and friction.
 * **e** - when the forces on an object are unbalanced the object will change its motion (that is, it will speed up, slow down, or change direction).

Educational Objective:
Given a visual representation of the forces acting on a bowling ball and the force of friction on the bowling lane, students will be able to determine the amount of force required for the bowling pin to knock the pins.



Learners
This game is designed for eighth grade science students who are learning about forces and motion. This game could be played at various points in the learning process and could be played again and again. The success that students have playing the game will depend on what they have learned about forces.

Forces tend to be one of the less motivating and more difficult units for students in 8th grade physical science. One of the most common misconceptions about forces is the effect that a constant forward force has on an object. In everyday circumstances there are virtually no situations where there is only a forward force acting on an object. Almost always friction is acting in the backward direction. Because of this, students very rarely catch on to the fact that when there is only a constant forward force, an object is actually speeding up. They generally believe that because the force is constant, the motion is constant as well. Since students will see a visual representation of the speed of the bowling ball as they bowl as well as the forces acting on the ball, students will begin to connect the relationship between forces and speed as they play the game. 

Context of Use
This game could be played either at home or at school. Since it requires a Wii gaming system to play, a teacher would have to set up a system in his/her classroom in order to play at school. If played in a classroom, the teacher would most likely use an LCD projector as the monitor. This would allow for the entire class to view the game, though only four players could participate at a time. An ambitious teacher could borrow several LCD projectors and project on several walls in order to have a FIB-A-R bowling tournament.

Because there are three levels and chance plays a role in the results of each game, the game could be played again and again and still be fun and educational. It could be played without prior knowledge of forces, as students learn about forces, or as a culminating activity. If played without knowledge of forces, many of the choices about lanes, how hard to throw, and at what angle will be made at random, but the results may help students begin to understand the role that forces play in the motion of objects.

Ideally the game would be played in versus mode rather than individual because this increases motivation and makes the game more fun. An individual game would take approximately 20 minutes while a versus game would take between 40-60 minutes.

Scope
If two players are competing, FIB-A-R will take approximately 40 minutes to play. The game will not be complete until all players have completed the ten frames required for a complete bowling game. After every three frames, the game will be rudely interrupted by Al Gore's Head. Al Gore's Head will provide information about the forces involved in bowling and ask a challenge question of the competitors. In order to return to the game, Professor Farnsworth will make a rude comment about Al Gore in order to get him to stop talking.

There are three levels to the game. Each adds a new level of challenge. In the first level, the speed of the ball does not matter. The ball can be thrown at very high speeds resulting in the destruction of the jars that hold the heads that are acting as bowling pins (this sounds gruesome, but in Futurama all of our favorite political and popular culture figures from the 20th and 21st century have had their head's preserved in jars so that they continue to live on). In each level a new challenge is added.

In the second level, there are limits to how fast or slow the ball travels. If the ball travels too slowly, then Zapp Brannigan and Kiff will shoot it before it reaches the pin, but if it moves so quickly that it breaks some of the jars, then the player receives no score for that round. Luckily, in the 10th frame, the Star Trek cast pin set will be lowered to the lane, and the goal is not only to bowl a strike, but to bowl so hard that you break the jars (but only for this pin set). This will result in bonus points.

The third level is the same as the second except that bonus pin sets that result in extra points if destroyed happen more frequently and balls may have multiple forces acting on them. This increases the level of difficulty in predicting how a ball will behave.

Object of the Game
The object of the game is to achieve the highest bowling score out of 330 for the first level, 350 for the second level, or 400 for the third level by knocking down the most heads in a jar, answering Al Gore's questions, and at appropriate moments, smashing the heck out of the heads in a jar. At the end of the bowling lane, 10 heads in a jar are arranged in the traditional pin formation. The player has two chances on each turn to knock down all ten heads in a jar. When playing as a single player, the motivation for getting the highest score is to beat your personal best or two have the opportunity to put your name in the hall of fame. If playing against other players, the goal is to obviously crush your opponent by consistently staying ahead and taunting at appropriate intervals.



Futurama Games
The only relationship that the following games have to FIB-A-R is that they capitalize on the popularity of the world and characters of the Futurama television show in order to motivate and attract players.


 * [|Can't Get Enough Futurama Flash Games]** - These flash-based games are fun though occasionally grim - like Bash Brannigan Again. They are very simple games.
 * [|Futurama]** for Xbox - In this game, all of the central characters from the TV show are working to stop Mom from another one of her maniacal plans to take over the Universe. As players work through the game they progress through a number of environments as the player advances in levels. At each level, the job of the player is to collect items and shoot the bad guys. It has received lackluster reviews such as [|this one] by Tim Tracy. Most complaints have to do with the repetitive and predictable elements of the game and problems with the game camera and targeting system.

Bowling Games:
Bowling is a classic video game genre. Even ancient Atari consoles had a 2-D bowling game. Now there are myriad bowling games for your cell phone, your X-box, your computer, Wii system, etc. Here are a few of the options out there in the bowling genre:


 * [[image:Gutterball2.png width="249" height="197" align="right"]][|Gutterball 2]** - An utterly annoying web-based game where you are forced to endure a loop of music that could drive a cat to water just to get a way. Not only does the music make you want to immediately leave the game, but in attempt to make the game more realistic perhaps you have to wait an excruciatingly long time to watch your bowl be returned down a chute. I t whole point of virtual games is that they take away some of the wait time. This game was made in shockwave and can be played online or downloaded.

FIB-A-R avoids some of the aspects of this game that make it not fun to play. There is not excruciatingly annoying music playing in the background and gameplay will not be hindered by long wait times between turns. One aspect that FIB-A-R improves upon is the idea of choice. In Gutterball 2, there is a choice of alleys and balls. However, in this game the choice is only made at the beginning. Once you have chosen a lane or ball, those choices remain in place until the end of the game. In FIB-A-R, a different ball will be randomly chosen for the player each turn and the player will have the option to choose a lane based on the ball that is given. Finally, the most obvious difference is that Gutterball 2 is simply a bowling game and makes no attempt to bring forces and motion into the consciousness of the players.


 * [[image:WiiBowling.jpg width="329" height="191" align="right" link="http://www.nintendo.com/games/detail/1OTtO06SP7M52gi5m8pD6CnahbW8CzxE"]][|Wii Bowling]** - Made for the Nintendo Wii, this bowling game comes packaged with several other games in the Wii Sports game. The Wii puts a new "spin" on bowling with the use of the Wii control that requires full motion to bowl. No longer can gamers simply press buttons to play. Players choose their Mii character (created previously) and either play individually or against other players.

One great thing about the Wii is how accessible it is. The motion is very similar to true bowling and has brought a whole new generation of gamers the fun of video bowling. There have been a number of stories about seniors staying fit and enjoying a sense of competition and camaraderie with Wii Bowling. [|Here's a link to a recent story out of Connecticut.]

Since FIB-A-R is built for the Wii system, there are similarities in how the game is played. The same controller and motion will cause the roll to be initiated. However, FIB-A-R will include many elements that are not part of the Wii game since it's primary function is to replicate the true bowling. As mentioned previously, FIB-A-R will have options for lanes to meet the needs of the ball that the player receives. Also, rather than playing as one of the Mii characters, players will have the option to play as one of the many characters in Futurama each with their idiosyncratic bowling style. For example the player may opt to play as Hermes with a Brain Slug attached to his skull. If so, his style of bowling will be more zombie-like - quite different from Leela who would roundhouse kick the ball down the lane.


 * Other Wii bowling games** - As mentioned before, there are countless bowling games available. For the Nintendo Wii there are four bowling games in addition to the one included in the Wii Sports package.
 * [|Midnight Bowling] - Made on Wii Ware
 * [|AMF Pinbusters]
 * [|Brunswick Pro Bowling]
 * [|Ten Pin Alley]

Games Teaching Force Concepts:

 * [[image:http://www.edresources.com/Images/Products/DSC56279.JPG align="right" link="http://www.edresources.com/ProductInfo.aspx?itemid=173694#complete"]][|Motion Collection]** from Educational Resources - This game is CD-ROM based and the focus audience for this game is grades five to nine, so it is for approximately the same audience that FIB-A-R is targeting.

The complete description of the game simply says, " Get a speedy understanding of how design, force, and type of motion affect an object's speed. Video Adventures: Solar-Powered Cars; Roller Coasters; Skateboards; Flying Objects; and Robo-Fish. Includes a Teacher's Guide." So it is not very clear how force ideas will be developed although the types of contexts described, skateboards, roller coasters, etc. are riddled with forces in action. Based on the information that is provided, the only similarity with FIB-A-R is that the games attempt to help students construct ideas about forces in engaging real-life environments.


 * [[image:http://www.edresources.com/Images/Products/DKM9223.JPG align="right" link="http://www.edresources.com/ProductInfo.aspx?itemid=172014"]][|Pinball Science]** from Educational Resources - Also a CD-ROM based game by David Macaulay, learners from a target grade range of three to eight learn go through an inventor's log and then use their knowledge to build pinball games. The game takes a different approach to interactivity than FIB-A-R. Rather than experiencing an already created recreational environment that is fraught with forces, students are working as inventors going through the process of science in order to design a game. As they work through the process, they must consider forces along with energy concepts, magnetism, measurement, etc.

Based on the brief description provided and David Macaulay's reputation, this game sounds like it would be very successful in being both educational and fun. One thing that FIB-A-R is able to do that Pinball Science cannot is bring in the element of competition as a motivator for learning. Since in FIB-A-R students can play against their peers, students are motivated to quickly learn about the way that forces will affect their success in the game so that they are able to be competent and able competitors.



Design Details
//Universal Elements// The graphics for this game will be modeled after the style of animation found in the Futurama television show and movies. However, rather than being two-dimensional, they will be three-dimensional. A video game has already been produced with these characters in three dimensions for the PS2 and Xbox. Two examples of images from this game are seen to the right.

Some inspiration for the graphics and interface will be taken from the Wii sports bowling game as well. Players will be shown from the same perspective as they bowl as they appear in this game, but there will also be a third person perspective that shows the player bowling from the side. This view will include the player and the entire lane all the way to the pins. This graphic will be displayed below the player perspective across the bottom of the screen. //Specific Elements// Before the game begins, the player(s) will need to decide three things. First they will need to decide whether they are playing alone or in versus mode. Second, they must choose a level at which to play. Finally, they must choose an avatar for the game. Each avatar will behave differently as they bowl and celebrate or rue their bowling results. Below is a description of some possible differences between avatars and a description of the differences between levels.

When bowlers are choosing their bowling avatar, they will be given information about the player. They will find out the bowling style of the player and some interesting biographical info. The three dimensional character will be rotating 360°. The player can flip through various characters by clicking the arrow right or left. To select an avatar, the player will click the 'A' button. 

Once the initial decisions have been made, the game begins. Players will randomly be assigned a bowling ball for each turn. For the first and second levels, the bowling ball will only have forward and backward forces. In the third level, the balls will have additional forces that may be pushing or pulling to the right or left. An image will be shown in the upper right hand corner with information about the ball and the forces acting on it. They will then click the 'A' button on the wiimote to pick up the ball.

The player will then be able to flip through the various lanes that are available. By clicking the right or left arrow keys, the player will flip through the various lane options. With each click the lane will instantly swap out. Below the force information on the ball will be a second display that will provide information about the forces that lane will apply to the ball as it rolls down the lane. The player will need to mentally calculate what the combined force of the lane and ball will be in order to predict the ball's motion. Once a player has decided on a lane, they will again press the A button.

Next the player can adjust the angle and location the ball is thrown (just as is done in Wii sports bowling).

Finally, the player can bowl. When they bowl, they will also be applying a force. But this force will only last during the throw. Therefore the amount of force applied will affect the motion of the ball as well. The amount of initial force will be determined by how far back the player's arm moves and how fast it moves forward.

The speed of the ball will be determined by Newton's 2nd Law using the formula F=ma where F is the total force on the ball, m is the mass of the ball, and a is the acceleration of the ball. In all cases, the mass of the ball will be 5 kilograms. The game will adjust the speed of the ball after a player throws based first on a rearrangement of the F=ma formula to a=F/m. By plugging in the total force on the ball and the mass of the ball, the acceleration and deceleration of the ball will be known. Then to determine the speed of the ball the formula **a = ( Vf - Vi ) / t** will be used where Vf is the final speed, Vi is the initial speed, a is the acceleration, and t is the time. The time interval will be assumed to be one second for all calculations.

||~ **Lane** ||~ **Initial Force** ||~ **Result/Reason** ||
 * Three sample turns**...
 * ~ **Ball**
 * Regular Ball that 21st century earthlings are familiar with from Past- O-Rama Land || High Friction Lane || As High As Possible || **Result**: The ball is too slow and is shot before it reaches the pins by Zapp Brannigan who then insults the player's manhood and the player receives no points for that round.
 * Reason**: The ball was released with a very large force which would give the ball a large initial speed. However, the friction will slowly take away the motion (kinetic energy) of the ball until it comes to a stop or Zapp shoots it. ||
 * A Ball with a Forward Thruster || Frictionless Lane || No force applied || **Result:** The ball shatters the jars containing the heads in jars and the player receives no points that round.
 * Reason**: Even though the player did not apply a force to begin with, the ball has a forward thruster that will continue to increase the motion (kinetic energy) of the ball as it rolls down the lane. Since there is no friction, the ball will get faster and faster and faster until it hits the pins causing them to shatter. ||
 * A Ball with a Forward Thruster || A Lane with a small Backward Force like the Poppler lane. || No force applied || **Result**: The ball is within optimal speed parameters and hits the pins. The player receives points for the number of pins they knock down.
 * Reason**: Because the ball has a forward force, as long as the backward force is less than the forward force, there will be a net forward force, but it will be small. The ball will get faster and faster as in the example above, but will not achieve as high of a speed by the time it reaches the pins and therefore will not be sufficient to break them. ||

//Before Bowling// As players are making decisions about the ball and lane, information will be displayed about each to the right of the bowler as seen in the display to the right.

At the beginning of a turn, the display will show information for the default lane, the Past-O -Rama Lane. This lane is a typical bowling lane from the 21st century. After picking up the ball, the player will have the ability to flip through different lanes. With each click, the lane will automatically swap.

The display will also display information about the ball. There will be an image of the ball and any forces from the ball itself or the lane will be displayed on the ball. Forces from the lane will be shown in blue and forces from the ball will be shown in red.

Below the ball and lane display will be a speed and total force read out. This will be inactive during the pre-bowling time and simply show a dashed line until the ball is released.

//While Bowling// The player will initiate a bowl by clicking the B button on the underside of the wiimote and holding it down until they wish to release the ball. While the player is performing the motion of bowling with the wiimote, the player will view a force-o-meter that is to the left of the ball and lane information that will indicate the magnitude of the force the player will apply prior to release. The size of the force will affect the initial speed of the bowling ball and then the forces applied to the ball by the lane and by any persistent forces on the ball. Once the B button is pressed to begin the bowl, the total force indicator will begin a read-out that will constantly change until the ball is released.

//After the Release of the Ball// Once the player releases the ball, they will view the ball traveling down the lane from two perspectives from behind and from the side. When viewing from the side, the player will still view the visual representation of the forces on the ball. In addition a yellow speed arrow will indicate the changing speed of the ball, the total force and speed indicator will begin a read out of information.

===Every three frames - Al Gore's Head provides sage advice and asks annoying questions - heckling provided by Professor Hubert J. Farnsworth===

Although playing the bowling game will challenge students to consider forces in their decision making about what lane surface and how hard and in what direction they should throw the bowling ball, it will be difficult to assess how much students are learning or whether they are simply using trial and error, trying random approaches, etc. in order to execute the game. In order to tie together the many concepts, at various points in the game, Al Gore's Head will appear with a Public Service Announcement that will provide useful information about mechanical forces (and their effect on Global Warming, of course) and with a Quiz Question meant to challenge their knowledge. Whether it is a PSA or a Quiz Question, Professor Hubert J. Farnsworth will transition us back to the bowling game by severely criticizing Al Gore's Head for using the word "Lockbox" more than once in a sentence, accusing him of being stiff in his delivery, or for his inferior inventions such as the Internet. For example, "Good news, everyone! Al Gore's Head has agreed to stop talking now...Oh, boy!"

If the player answers the question correctly, they will add 10 points to their score. There is no penalty for answering incorrectly. Therefore, if the player is in level one, Al Gore will appear three times (after every third frame, and the player will have the opportunity to earn 30 additional points. If more than one player is playing, it is only the first player to answer who receives the points.

Sample Question and Ridicule: //Al Gore's Head -// Why hello. I'm Al Gore's head. Did you know that Sir Isaac Newton's head made some amazing discoveries about forces back in ancient times? In fact, he went to the trouble to make three laws. The first law says something like this, "An object at rest stays at rest and an object in motion stays in motion unless acted on by an unbalanced force." So if that's true...what would happen to a ball that was traveling on a mystery lane at a speed of 50 mph with no forces acting on it? A. It will keep going at 50 mph at a constant speed until it hits the pins B. It will slow down quickly because nothing can go 50 mph for very long without fuel C. It will slow down slowly because everything slows down eventually D. This is a trick question that not even Bill Clinton could answer (even with Hillary's help)

--at this point the players will vie to be the first to answer the question-

//Al Gore's Head -// Excellent job. Do you know...

//Dr. Hubert Farnsworth -// "What is all of this poppycock you're talking about Al Gore's Head. I'm not getting any younger here! Let's get back to bowling before they donate my bones to science fiction!"

--the players now are able to return to bowling-

//Technical Elements//


 * Wii Developers Tools would be used to create this game. These tools are impossible to get without completing an application process to become an official Wii developer. However, there are other tools that can be used. Wiiware provides another option, but also must be applied for. Finally, game developers can design in some [|homebrews] that do not require an application
 * the intended platform is the Nintendo Wii gaming console that includes the Wiimote. No other accessories are required
 * Maya will be used to make the three-dimensional graphics, any two-dimensional graphics will be created with Adobe Photoshop, and audio files will be created in Garageband.
 * data structures will be needed to keep track of high scores and player statistics such as average score, current level, etc.

Motivational Issues
According to Csikszentmihalyi, what motivates people is being in a state of flow, where flow is described as a state of challenge. The task cannot be too easy or too difficult for a player to be in a state of flow. One of the challenges of any activity is that with practice, a player will become competent with a task and move out of flow because the task is too easy. FIB-A-R allows players to maintain flow by providing several levels of challenge both within a level and between levels. If a player is a beginner and is playing at level one, there will be a variety of balls that will be available from the ball return. The player has no choice in what ball they receive. Some balls will be easy to use and some will be more difficult. Thus, one turn may be easy while others may be very challenging. Furthermore, once a player masters a particular level, new levels await. Although these levels will be familiar, there will be new factors that a player must consider to be successful.

Jonassen provides another theory of motivation called the ARCS model. Under the ARCS theory, motivation is achieved through Attention, Relevance, Confidence, and Satisfaction. For attention, a user must be engaged in the activity. Part of what allows FIB-A-R to create engagement is the familiarity of the characters and the pleasure in seeing them react throughout the game. Futurama has a wry, sarcastic humor that appeals to early teens as well as adults. Creating a learning game where students can still enjoy the fun of banter and goading in the form of familiar characters makes the game more appealing.

In terms of relevance, the game clearly relates to the standards that students are tasked with learning in 8th grade physical science, so making the game seem relevant in the classroom is not difficult. However, creating a sense that what they are learning is relevant outside of the classroom can be difficult. In the case of FIB-A-R, the learning of physics is couched in a familiar environment (that is also made somewhat unfamiliar in its other-worldly and futuristic components). This familiar environment, bowling, is one where physics plays a large role in the gameplay. Though many people do not realize it, good bowlers develop a folk understanding of physics that allows they to make predictions about where to release the ball, the amount of spin to apply, and how hard to throw.

Confidence is the third factor of the ARCS model. Students build confidence during the game in the first level. There are only a few situations in the first level where a player would need to have a sophisticated knowledge of physics in order to be successful. Most choices will be adequate in order to make the ball go fast enough to reach the pins, so in this level, the concern is more with becoming familiar with the interplay of various balls and lanes in order to prepare for higher levels where the player will have to try to determine what combination of choices will produce a more average speed that is neither too slow or too fast.

Finally, Jonassen proposes that an activity must provide satisfaction. FIB-A-R provides constant feedback on the success or lack of success of the bowler, but the feedback is playful, funny, and, at times, sarcastic. For example, if a player is successful on a particular turn, the player will react as they may have in the television show. Phillip K. Fry might celebrate by simply turning around, acting like the Fonz, sticking both thumbs up and saying, “Heeeey.” Also, when a player does not perform well, their reaction will also provide humor and fun. For example, if a player chooses a ball and lane that causes the ball to complete stop before reaching the pins, Zapp Brannigan might simply not choose to shoot the ball and say, “Your pathetic.”

In summary, the game FIB-A-R is motivating because it is based on beloved characters whose behavior is fun to watch. Putting these characters in a situation in which we’ve never seen them and seeing them react based on our skill or lack thereof is part of what makes this game fun. Furthermore, the game is fun because it truly is a challenge that builds as the player progresses. Not only does each ball present a new challenge to be thought through, but each level provides more difficult challenges as well.

Commercial Licensing of Futurama Characters
Because Futurama is a television show developed for Twentieth Century Fox, Futurama characters can be licensed for commercial use by contacting Twentieth Century Fox Licensing and Merchandising. They license on behalf of Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation, Twentieth Television and Fox Broadcasting Company, as well as third party lines under the Fox Interactive banner. They can be contacted by mail, phone, or fax using the information below.

Twentieth Century Fox Licensing and Merchandising PO Box 900, Beverly Hills, CA 90209-0900, United States (310)369-1000, (310)369-2939 fax,

Design Process
I knew that I wanted the game to focus on some aspect of physical science. As a science teacher and now as a resource teacher for a science grant, I've generally been disappointed with the interactives available for physical science. They tend to be either fun and engaging because they focus on exciting topics in physical science like space or cars, but they are skimpy on the science or they are great on the science but are boring. I always gravitate toward forces and motion when trying to find something fun and engaging with technology because these two topics are particularly difficult and because of the dearth of good interactive websites or simulations. I spoke with a middle school science teacher and asked him what he thought was the most difficult concept for students to understand in physical science, and his response was that the idea that a constant forward force causes an object to continually speed up is what is most confusing to students. I agreed with this and also remembered that students also tended to be confused about what force arrows represented. They often thought it indicated the direction and speed of motion rather than a push or pull.

Once I knew the topic, the difficult part was determining a context for the game. I wanted the game to be situated in an environment where forces are at work, but I also wanted to environment to be engaging. At first I considered having the game be intergalactic because it provided more interesting options for removing or increasing forces (since space is one of the only places where friction is not an issue). At first, I had thought that the players would choose from random images of aliens as their bowling avatar, but then decided that having the players come from Futurama would make the game more engaging. That way the players would have pre-established personalities that could contribute to their style of bowling and reactions that could make the game more motivating and interesting to fans.

The next step was to figure out how to make the game really challenging and have the choices and actions of the players teach and/or reinforce force ideas. This took me quite awhile. I immediately thought of having balls and lanes with different properties, but the problem was that the effect of the forces on the motion of the ball was the key to getting students to learn. If there were no consequences to how fast or slow the ball moved, then the game would be too easy. Players would simply choose the lane with the least friction or a forward force and the type of ball wouldn't matter much. This lead to a drought in my thinking. I spent quite a bit of time mulling over the game without any real progress.

In order to help me think about this, I decided to seek out a friend that owned a Wii and was willing to let me play a game of Wii sports bowling with them. Luckily I found one, and after a good a@*whooping, I got a few good ideas for higher levels. I liked that in Wii sports there were fitness challenges where there were obstacles in the lanes that would force you to make a throw that curved toward the pins. This lead me to think about how obstacles could contribute to the game, but I still wasn't sure how to pull it all together.

Next I started talking to my husband because he is a contender for the ultimate Futurama superfan. I told him about my dilemma and he said that I could have Zapp shoot the ball if it was too slow. I liked this idea, but it didn't deal with the core problem which was that it would be easy to get the ball to go fast, and I needed an obstacle for balls that are too fast. Why would a player not want there ball to be going too fast? In regular bowling there is no problem with this. Then I realized that since the pins were heads in jars, they were breakable unlike typical bowling pins, which meant there was an incentive to not break them (that is, if you liked the celebrities that they represented). So that lead to the idea that the player would be penalized if their ball was moving too fast that it broke the heads in jars. The problem with that idea, though, was that it would be very gratifying to break the heads in a jar especially if you weren't particularly fond of the heads). So I decided that at certain times the goal would be to achieve the highest speed possible on a turn in order to earn bonus points for breaking the jars.

References
Books & Journals Electronic Other
 * Csikszentmihalyi, M. //Conditions of Flow//
 * Jonassen, D. //Use of the Arcs Model//
 * http://www.gamezone.com/news/09_05_03_05_16PM.htm - Futurama video game
 * [|http://venturebeat.com/2008/02/20/nintendos-wiiware-platform-to-let-independent-developers-get-their-game-on/]- Wiiware
 * http://www.warioworld.com/licensing/, http://www.warioworld.com/apply/ - Licensing information and application for Wii Developer Tools
 * http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wii_homebrew - Homebrews for creating Wii games
 * Wii Game Console with Wii Sports Bowling
 * Futurama Television show